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Daily Business Report — July 20, 2010

Downtown Apartment Owner Eyes Law School Students

Seattle-based Security Properties has acquired the Entrada Apartments in Downtown’s East Village with an eye toward attracting students from the new Thomas Jefferson School of Law a block away after it opens in January. Security Properties paid $22 million for the 172-unit complex and plans to renovate the leasing office, the rooftop common area and painting the building. The apartments have a mixture of studios and one-bedroom units. Entrada was built in 2004. The new owner assumed an existing conduit loan and assumed a modified loan from the Centre Centre Development Corp. CCDC had provided the original developer with $3.5 million of equity to construct the complex in exchange for providing 40 affordable units as part of the project.

Al Gore to Address Tijuana Sustainability Conference

Former Vice President Al Gore will address a conference in Tijuana about cutting-edge technologies in sustainability during the “Tijuana Innovadora 2010” conference. Gore will deliver the keynote address Oc. 14. The conference runs from Oct. 7-21 at Centro Cultural Tijuana, known as CECUT. His talk will focus on the new technologies industries are using to protect the environment, said one of the conference coordinators, Alejandro Bustamante. Gore is the author of “An Inconvenient Truth,” a best-selling book about the threat global warming poses to mankind and some possible solutions. “One of the basic goals of the Tijuana Innovadora conference is to send a message to the world that the city is more than bad news, it’s an optimal site to develop all kinds of industries,” said Bustamante, president of Tijuana’s operations of Plantronics, designer and manufacturer of lightweight communication headsets. The conference also features three other Nobel Prize winners – Robert Aumann (economy), and Robert Grubbs and Mario Molina (both chemistry) — as well as innovation leaders Francis Fukuyama, Xani Jardin, Jim Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, among others.

Complete details in English and Spanish about the conference are found in the Website tijuanainnovadora.com. Tickets are $100, and cover one day’s admission to panel discussions and keynote addresses. They may be purchased on-line at: tijuanainnovadora.com. Transportation: The CECUT is in the Rio Zone, adjacent to the San Ysidro border crossing. There will be free shuttle service between the crossing and the center during the conference. There will be free, simultaneous translation from English to Spanish and vice versa during all keynote addresses and panel discussions.

Asset Marketing Systems Insurance Services Relocates

Asset Marketing Systems Insurance Services LLC has secured a 20,000-square-foot office space lease at Carmel Point III at 15050 Avenue of Science, Suite 100, in San Diego. The company has relocated its headquarters from Scripps Ranch. Carmel Point Office Park is a three-building office park totalling 120,000 square feet owned by Arden Realty. Asset Marketing Systems Insurance’s new office space will accommodate 100 employees. Leslie Durland is CEO of the company. Scot Ginsburg of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the company in its negotiations with Arden Realty.

Security Business Bank Hires a Vice President

Melyn Acasio has been hired as a vice president at Security Business Bank. Acasio previously was senior relationship manager and vice president for Pacific Western Bank. She is active in several community organizations, serving as a board member for the Girls Scouts of San Diego-Imperial Council, the South County Economic Development Council, the National City Chamber of Commerce and as a member of the Kiwanis Club of National City.

Business Litigation Associate Hired at Wilson Turner Kosmo

Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP has hired Jocelyn Hannah as a business litigation associate. Hannah’s practice focuses on representation of clients in complex business litigation with an emphasis on business and commercial litigation, professional liability, director and officer liability, unfair competition and other business torts. Previously, she was a senior civil litigation associate with the San Diego office of Butz Dunn & DeSantis. Hannah is a member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Lawyers Club of San Diego and the San Diego County Bar Association. She received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Boston University, a master’s degree from the University of Edinburgh and a law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Padres Extend Manager Bud Black’s Contract

The Padres have extended the contract of manager Bud Black through the 2013 season with club options for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Black, 53, made his managerial debut with the Padres in 2007. In parts of four seasons with San Diego, he has led the club to a 281-297 (.486) record, including an 89-74 mark in 2007. The 89 wins were the most for San Diego since the club won a franchise-record 98 contests in 1998. Named the 16th manager in franchise history on Nov. 9, 2006, Black joined the Padres after seven seasons as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitching coach (2000-06). He previously spent four years in the Cleveland Indians organization, holding the position of special assistant to General Manager John Hart for three years (1996-97, 1999) and pitching coach for Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo for the 1998 season.

Groundwork San Diego Names Youth Program Director

Heather Clark, a media arts graduate from UCSD, has been hired as youth program director for Groundwork San Diego-Chollas Creek, an independent nonprofit environmental business that works within the Cholla Creek area. Clark has been project manager for Urban Plantations, a landscape design firm, outreach coordinator for the Rancho Guajito Project under the Endangered Habitats League, senior instructor at Outdoor Outreach, primary outdoor guide for Outback Adventures at UCSD and outdoor educator at Boojum Institute for Experiential Education.

San Diego Regional Chamber to Redesign Website

The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce has enlisted Website development firm Automatic to design a new state-of-the-art Website to improve members’ ability to navigate and access information on chamber activities. Automatic also will produce a series of seminars to educate local businesses, on planning, designing and building a world-class Website. Automatic is providing the service at no cost to the chamber. It recently relocated its corporate headquarters to San Diego from Orange County.

Luncheon Focuses on Women Business Ownership

Helping women realize their dreams for business ownership is the focus of a special luncheon on July 22 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Celebration Hall at the Joe & Vi Jacobs Center, 404 Euclid Ave. in San Diego The Multicultural Women’s Business luncheon will feature Dee Sanford as the keynote speaker, information on social media as a marketing tool, and provides the opportunity for women to network with fellow entrepreneurs. The event is sponsored by the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, Union Bank, ACCION San Diego, Dee Sanford International, DiverseCity Tech and HMC Advertising. Tickets are $15 each, and can be purchased online at marketcreekevents.com/payment.htm. For more information, call Kimberly Pecox at Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation at (619) 527-6161, Ext. 150.

College Offers Wine-Social Media Course

The College of Extended Studies at San Diego State will offer a new “Connecting with Wine through Social Media” course on Mondays between Aug. 9 and Aug. 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. as part of its Professional Certificate in the Business of Wine program. The course will help students discover how the Internet and social media are reshaping the wine market. They will be taught the fundamentals of using social media applications and platforms that facilitate interaction, collaboration and sharing of information among wine consumers. Cost of the course is $295 or $325 after Aug. 2. For more information, call (619) 594-6924 or visit neverstoplearning.net.

The Daily Business Report is produced by REP Publishing Inc., publisher of San Diego Metropolitan Magazine, the North Park News, Kensington News and the West Coast Craftsman. (619) 906-4104.

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In the coming months, Probosky Research (one of California’s leading opinion research firms) will continue its partnership with SD METRO to survey San Diego residents about topics of interest to our readers. We’d like to throw open the door for suggestions for topics. What do you want to know? What do you think you know, but aren’t sure? What are you certain you know, but want to prove it beyond doubt? Ideally, we’d like to see questions that have to do with public policy.
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